Bow fishing illumination system

Abstract

A bow fishing illumination system for support on a vessel and including a bank of illumination modules that extend outboard of the vessel so as to illuminate a water surface about the vessel. The bank of illumination modules includes a support housing, a reflective member disposed with the support housing and having a reflective surface, and an array of LED's disposed with the support housing in a manner to have their light beam extend away from the support housing. The array of LED's includes a plurality of LED's that are arranged in at least one spaced apart linear array. A joystick controller is mounted on the vessel and includes a base used for the purpose of mounting the joystick controller, a joystick mounted to the base, a first button on the base that is separate from the joystick for controlling a locking feature, and a second button on the base that is separate from the joystick for controlling an auto pilot feature.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A bow fishing illumination system for support on a vessel and comprised of a bank of illumination modules that extend outboard of the vessel so as to illuminate a water surface about the vessel, said bank of illumination modules including a support housing, a reflective member disposed with the support housing and having a reflective surface, and an array of LED's disposed with the support housing in a manner to have their light beam extend away from the support housing, said reflective member being supported at the supports housing so that the reflective surface is substantially horizontal so as to direct the light beam from the LED array toward the water surface;
 wherein the array of LED's include a plurality of LED's that are arranged in a spaced apart linear array, and the reflective surface is substantially planar; 
 wherein the array of LEDs is comprised of a pair of spaced apart LED sets, wherein the sets of LED's are disposed in parallel with each other; and 
 wherein one LED set is comprised of white color LED's and the other LED set is comprised of phosphor converted amber color LED's. 
 
     
     
       2. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 1  wherein each of the illumination modules is spaced apart from an adjacent illumination module. 
     
     
       3. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 2  wherein the bank of illumination modules includes at least one illumination module directed forward at a front of the boat and at least one illumination module on respective fore and aft sides of the boat. 
     
     
       4. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 1  including a planar circuit board to which the spaced apart linear array is secured, the planar reflective surface having an orthogonal relationship to the planar circuit board. 
     
     
       5. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 1  including a switch that controls a relay that enables illumination of either or both of the sets of the LED arrays. 
     
     
       6. A bow fishing illumination system for support on a vessel and comprised of a bank of illumination modules that extend outboard of the vessel so as to illuminate a water surface about the vessel, said bank of illumination modules including a A support housing, a reflective member disposed with the support housing, and an array of LEDs disposed with the support housing in a manner to have their light beam extend away from the support housing and reflected downward toward the water surface by the reflective member, the array of LEDs including a plurality of LEDs that are arranged in at least one spaced apart linear array; a heat sink mounted to the vessel; said support housing including a support plate that is mounted to the heat sink; a translucent piece that is mounted to a face of the heat sink; said translucent piece including a slanted part and a top horizontal cover part; the reflective member having a surface that is substantially planar and that is secured within the translucent piece under the horizontal cover part; a circuit board that is disposed within the translucent piece and that is mounted substantially vertically; said circuit board for mounting the array of LEDs. 
     
     
       7. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 6  wherein the bank of illumination modules includes at least one illumination module directed forward at a front of the boat and at least one illumination module on respective fore and aft sides of the boat. 
     
     
       8. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 6  wherein the array of LED's is comprised of a pair of spaced apart LED sets, wherein the sets of LED's are disposed in parallel with each other, and each mounted on the circuit board. 
     
     
       9. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 6  wherein the reflective member includes a planar reflective surface that is disposed horizontally and opposite disposed side pieces that are each disposed perpendicular to the array of LEDs. 
     
     
       10. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 9  wherein the opposite disposed side pieces are also disposed perpendicular to the planar reflective surface. 
     
     
       11. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 6  wherein the array of LED's is comprised of a pair of spaced apart LED sets, wherein the sets of LED's are disposed in parallel with each other. 
     
     
       12. A bow fishing illumination system for support on a vessel and comprised of a bank of illumination modules that extend outboard of the vessel so as to illuminate a water surface about the vessel, said bank of illumination modules including a support housing, a reflective member disposed with the support housing and having a reflective surface, and an array of LED's disposed with the support housing in a manner to have their light beam extend away from the support housing, the array of LED's including a plurality of LED's that are arranged in at least one spaced apart linear array;
 wherein the reflective surface is substantially planar; 
 wherein the reflective member is supported at the support housing so that the reflective surface is substantially horizontal so as to direct the light beam from the LED array against the reflective surface and downward toward the water surface; 
 wherein the array of LED's is comprised of a pair of spaced apart LED sets, wherein the sets of LED's are disposed in parallel with each other; and 
 wherein one LED set is comprised of white wavelength LED's and the other LED set is comprised of amber wavelength LED's. 
 
     
     
       13. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 12  including a planar circuit board to which the spaced apart linear array is secured, the planar reflective surface having an orthogonal relationship to the planar circuit board. 
     
     
       14. The bow fishing illumination system of  claim 12  including a switch that enables illumination of either or both of the sets of LED's. 
     
     
       15. The bow fishing illuminations system of  claim 12  including one or more of the following features:
 an LED driver that has a maximum output voltage that matches a maximum forward voltage of both LED arrays; 
 the amber LED array is comprised of special phosphor converted amber LEDs using an indium gallium nitride conversion chemistry; 
 the phosphor converted amber LEDs improve visibility in murky or cloudy water, help reduce surface glare, minimize reflections and give the bowfisher better visibility overall in low visibility water conditions; 
 the bowfishing illumination system includes a single dimmer feature that is used to increase or decrease the light intensity from 0% to 100%; 
 the bowfishing illumination system is fully modular and expandable.